Real Madrid`s UCL campaign came to an end as they were outplayed and outclassed by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Werner should have given Chelsea the lead on 18 minutes when he tapped home from Ben Chilwell’s cross but was offside when he didn’t need to be. Mendy pulled off a superb save to deny Karim Benzema when he managed to get a shot off from the edge of the box.
And Chelsea were ahead on 28 minutes when Kai Havertz, played in by N’Golo Kante, saw his dinked effort over Thibaut Courtois rebound off the bar and Werner was first to the rebound to head home from close range.
Moments later, Benzema again forced Mendy into a good save with a header following some good play by Luka Modric.
With five minutes remaining, Pulisic assisted Mount, who smashed the ball home from close range.
Main Talking Points of the game:
Team Selection Debacle
Zidane who is known for his interesting and responsive formations left many Madridistas questioning his setup after Real Madrid’s performance against the Blues. The left flank with Nacho as CB, an injured Mendy as a wingback, and overlapping occasionally with an ineffective Eden Hazard was a complete ‘failure’.
Another poor decision in the initial formation was Zidane’s decision to play Vinicius Jr. on the right as a wingback. Vini is a natural LW and Zidane shouldn’t have experimented in a match of this stature.
Militao was asked to make runs from the right and play the ball to Vinicius but we cannot expect a CB to make pacey runs and break down the likes of Kante and Jorginho in the midfield.
100 Million Euro Man…Eden Hazard.
Zidane chose to start former Chelsea star Eden Hazard against his old club, but his performance was underwhelming. Madridistas were left totally frustrated as much more is and was expected of the Belgian. Perhaps, the 100m price stag and terms like ‘Cristiano`s Successor’ are adding to the drama.
Unbreakable Blues
Kudos to the way Chelsea played on Wednesday night. A simply ‘unbreakable’ midfield and defense commanded by Thiago Silva and N’golo Kante. No space was allowed to Real Madrid as they were closed down quickly whenever Real pushed forward.
